1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to product displays, and more particularly to those product displays used to support and display eyeglasses.
2. Prior Art
The merchandising techniques employed by mass-merchandising outlets make increasing use of self-service merchandising displays. Such self-service displays present a customer with a variety of goods from which to make a selection. Such sales displays are used to market non-prescription eyeglasses. These may include non-prescription reading glasses which are generally known as magnifiers or non-magnifying sunglasses. Without sales personnel, a customer is permitted to select a pair of eyeglasses from the display, the choice being based on whatever aesthetic or functional requirements the customer may have. The one factor in common in all such sales displays is the large variety of sizes, colors, and/or degree of magnification. Irrespective of whatever factors the customer may be considering, the merchandising display must permit the customer to selectively remove and/or return eyeglasses which are being considered for purchase.
One of the earliest and simplest merchandising displays for eyeglasses merely provides an individual slot or container for each pair of eyeglasses. As an alternative, cantilever displays allow a plurality of individual pairs of sunglasses to be mounted along a single cantilevered support or arm. On the other hand, the means used to hang and display the eyeglasses do not permit the glasses to be selectively removed and/or returned to the display. As a result, if the customer wishes to examine a pair of eyeglasses which is not at the end of the cantilevered support, the unwanted pairs of eyeglasses must be removed in order to allow access to the selected pair. The inadequacies of this design are obvious. Where a customer is required to remove unwanted merchandise in order to gain access to the eyeglasses being considered for purchase, the removed merchandise could be damaged, lost or inadvertently returned to the wrong location.
As will be described in detail hereinbelow, the present invention allows a customer to try on a pair of eyeglasses without removing the eyeglasses from the apparatus which permits them to be coupled to the merchandising display. Although there are devices taught by the prior art which allow eyeglasses to be examined without removal from the supporting apparatus, they fail to provide selective access to the displayed merchandise. One of the devices taught by the prior art employs a substantially rectangular member which has an aperture disposed therethrough to permit the serial mounting of a plurality of supported eyeglasses upon a cantilevered arm. The eyeglasses are secured to the member by an extending element which passes through the nose gap of the eyeglasses and is then bent to form a loop that surrounds the eyeglass frame bridge. Although this device permits a customer to examine the eyeglasses without removal of the supporting member, selective access to mounted merchandise is precluded.
The present invention substantially resolves those inadequacies which are inherent in those devices taught by the prior art. The present invention support and display apparatus is coupled to the temples of the eyeglasses without obstructing the nose gap. In this manner, the eyeglasses may be placed on the face of the user without removing the glasses from the supporting apparatus. The base member which is coupled to the eyeglasses is provided with a supporting flange which allows selective engagement with a cantilevered merchandising support thereby resolving the problem of potential damage or loss of displayed merchandise.